Camouflage is a way to hide or conceal a person or an object from its surroundings. The objective is to blend into the environment and to avoid detection. In nature, color blending is used for both defensive and avoiding detection purposes such as white rabbits in snow covered regions. Alternatively, camouflage is used by hunter predators such as white polar bears to gain an offensive advantage of surprise when trying to capture prey.
Some reptiles such as camelians even can change color to blend into the surroundings to further advance their concealment in an effort to capture fast moving insects.
The natural techniques of concealment have been adapted by humans in recreational hunting and for military purposes.
For years the art of concealment by the use of camouflage has evolved from the simple use of netting to the art of painting vehicles and dressing personnel by using specific camouflaged patterns.
In the case of vehicles, one area that has been both overlooked and avoided has been the tires of the vehicles. Some attempts to provide camouflage netting over the wheel wells have been attempted but basically the concept of wheel concealment has been ignored. This is partly because the wheel is already in the shadows of the body of the vehicle in some cases and in other cases it has been generally understood that large vehicles on the move are easily detected. Accordingly, these vehicles are generally covered by camouflage netting when they are stopped. However, when on the move these vehicles generally do not rely heavily on their camouflage.
In recent years small agile, very fast reconnaissance vehicles are being used by scouts or Special Forces troops who require the element of concealment and surprise to accomplish their objectives. These soldiers have adopted four and six wheel off road vehicles similar to the All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) vehicles used for recreational hunting.
These vehicles have the tires generally exposed and the tires are a dominant visual pattern easily spotted by opposing forces, whether the vehicles are moving or stationary the tires become a prominent feature that can be easily detected.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a camouflaged tire to enhance concealment of vehicles.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a simple and efficient way to produce such a tire that can survive harsh off road conditions.